Brighton, UK · jazz-punk

Opus Kink

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Brighton's brass-blasted jazz-punk cabaret — sleazy, sweaty, superb, like the house band for a bar you shouldn't be in.

Opus Kink are a band from Brighton, England, formed around 2017. The lineup settled as Sam Abbo, Angus Rogers, Fin Abbo, Jack Banjo Courtney, Jazz Pope and Jed Morgans, with Courtney joining later, in 2021, just before the recording of the group's second EP.

They build their songs on horns as much as guitars, mixing post-punk rhythms with brass arrangements that pull from jazz, klezmer and cabaret, and the vocals are delivered in a hoarse, half-spoken bark. Influences reach further still, taking in country, Latin, gothic and French chanson.

The band's own label, Hideous Mink Records, put out the 2019 double A-side "Faster Than the Radio / Mosquito," recorded with producer Liam Watson at Toe Rag Studios. During the 2020 lockdown they released the Bandcamp-only EP Requiem for a Quarantine.

Tim Burgess produced two singles, "Wild Bill" and "This Train," at Rockfield Studios, released through Nice Swan Records. The band's second EP, Til the Stream Runs Dry, was recorded at the same studio in 2022, with a further EP, My Eyes, Brother!, following in 2023.

Their recorded output has come mainly through EPs and singles, but the group's reputation rests largely on live performance, where the arrangements loosen and the horn section pushes the songs toward something closer to a raucous revue. A debut album, The Sweet Goodbye, is set for release through SO Recordings.

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jazz-punk